1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a riding simulation system for providing an operator with a pseudo-experience of a running condition of a motorcycle by displaying scenery seen to the rider as a visual image on a display based on an operating condition of operation by the operator.
2. Description of Background Art
Hitherto, riding simulation systems for providing an operator with a pseudo-experience of running conditions of a motorcycle by displaying various running conditions on a display in response to various operations performed by the operator have been adopted for the purpose of a play, an education of operation of the motorcycle, or the like.
For example, a riding simulation system served to play has a structure in which a steering handle shaft portion extending toward the upper side of a base member having a lower surface formed to be a roughly flat surface shape is provided, and steering handles extending leftwards and rightwards are disposed at a top portion of the steering handle shaft portion.
In addition, the steering handles are fitted respectively with a right lever functioning as a brake lever for a front wheel and a left lever for a clutch changeover operation, and an accelerating operation of the motorcycle displayed on the display is effected through a right grip for acceleration which is provided turnably at a right end portion of the steering handles.
With the riding simulation system mounted on a flat surface such as a floor, the player grips the steering handles, turns the steering handles with the steering handle shaft portion as a center according to the operating condition, or turns the right grip as required to effect an accelerating operation of the motorcycle displayed on the display for play, or operates the right lever and the left lever to effect deceleration, and performs gear change operations, whereby the player gets a pseudo-experience of operations of the motorcycle displayed on the display for play (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-113264 (paragraphs [0010] to [0021]).
Meanwhile, an actual motorcycle is provided, on the lower side of a roughly central portion thereof, with a foot brake pedal operated by the rider through his foot, and a gear change pedal for gear change operations which is displaced upwards or downwards by the rider through his foot.
In the riding simulation system according to Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2002-113264, only the steering handles, the right lever functioning as the brake lever for the front wheel, and the left lever for clutch changeover operations are provided; namely, a foot brake pedal and a gear change pedal for performing a gear change operation when displaced upwards or downwards by the rider through his foot are not provided.
In view of the above, it is assumed that a pedal unit (not shown) comprising a foot brake pedal and a gear change pedal is provided on the floor surface or the like independently from the steering handle for the purpose of obtaining an operating feeling more similar to that on an actual motorcycle. Based on the assumption, however, an operation of kicking the gear change pedal upwards is needed in raising the gear change gear ratio. In this case, the pedal unit itself mounted on the floor surface or the like is lifted up from the floor surface or the like by this operation, resulting in that it is difficult for the player to perform stable operations.
In addition, there is a request for getting pseudo-experiences of running conditions of various vehicle forms of motorcycles by use of a single riding simulation system.
In addition, conventionally there has been developed a riding simulation system in which a dummy motorcycle and a display are combined with each other, a screen display is varied according to operations on a steering handle and an accelerator, and a dummy engine sound is generated, thereby providing the operator with a pseudo-experience of running conditions.
In such a riding simulation system, in order to further enhance the ambience, there has been proposed a system in which a motor for a dummy engine vibration is mounted to an end portion of the steering handle, and the rotating speed of the motor is controlled according to the rotating speed of a dummy engine, thereby generating dummy vibrations (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-23095 (paragraph [0039], FIG. 14).
In this case, the motor for the dummy engine vibration is desirably so constituted that it is easy to replace and repair at the time of maintenance or the like. On the other hand, since the motor is a means, which vibrates in itself, the motor must be securely fixed so as not to generate a needless chatter other than the dummy vibration.
Further, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88605 (paragraph [0028], FIG. 14) has proposed a motorcycle riding simulation system in which the light emitted from a video apparatus is not shielded by the operator and which provides an image easy to see for the operator (see Patent Reference 1).
A mimic motorcycle constituting the riding simulation system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88605 has a structure in which a gear change mechanism including a change pedal is provided, and a gear change switch (sensor) for detecting that a shift-down or shift-up has been performed by a displacement motion through the change pedal is provided additionally.
Namely, with the gear change switch energized or de-energized under a displacement action of the change pedal, it is detected that a gear change such as a shift-up or a shift-down has been performed.
Meanwhile, in the riding simulation system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88605, a gear change made by operating the change pedal results only in that the gear change switch is pressed; therefore, the click feeling at the time of a gear change in an actual motorcycle cannot be obtained, and the operating feeling at the time of a gear change in the riding simulation system is far from that in the actual motorcycle.
Still further In view of the above, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88605(paragraph [0020], FIG. 9) has proposed a motorcycle riding simulation system in which the light emitted from a video apparatus is not shielded by the operator and which provides an image easy to see for the operator
A mimic motorcycle in the riding simulation system disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. Hei 5-88605 (paragraph [0020], FIG. 9) is provided with a steering handle moving motor for applying to a steering handle a reaction force corresponding to an operation of the steering handle by the operator, and is so constructed that a steering handle operating feeling similar to that on an actual motorcycle can be obtained.
Meanwhile, in the industry, there is a request for a structure in which the above-mentioned steering handle moving motor is replaced by a simple mechanism. To meet the request, therefore, it may be contemplated to generate a reaction force when the steering handle is turned rightwards or leftwards, by use of two coil springs for a steering handle shaft for turnably supporting the steering handle. This approach, however, has the problem that a large space is required for mounting the two coil springs.
On the other hand, when it is planned to generate both leftward and rightward reaction forces by use of a single coil spring, a gap is generated between the coil spring and the steering handle shaft, resulting in the generation of chatter.